John Edwards May Finally Admit He's The Father Of Rielle Hunter's Baby

The least credible full-throated denial in recent memory may finally be coming to an end.

John Edwards is reportedly finally ready to admit that he's the daddy.

Neil Lewis, NYT: [A] federal grand jury in nearby Raleigh is investigating whether any crimes were committed in connection with campaign laws in an effort to conceal his extramarital affair with a woman named Rielle Hunter. At the same time, Mr. Edwards is moving toward an abrupt reversal in his public posture; associates said in interviews that he is considering declaring that he is the father of Ms. Hunter’s 19-month-old daughter, something that he once flatly asserted in a television interview was not possible.

Friends and other associates of Mr. Edwards and his wife of 32 years, Elizabeth, say she has resisted the idea of her husband’s claiming paternity. Mrs. Edwards, who is battling cancer, “has yet to be brought around,” said one family friend, who like others spoke about the situation on the condition of anonymity, pointing to the complicated and delicate nature of the issue.

The situation may become more fraught, as people who know Ms. Hunter said she was planning to move with her daughter, Frances, from New Jersey to North Carolina in coming months.

the grand jury investigation, in which prosecutors are pressing forward with a flimsy legal claim (hush-money paid to Hunter should have been declared as campaign donations). Edwards is likely hopeful that if he comes completely clean, prosecutors will abandon their claims.

a book proposal circulated by the Edwards aide who originally took the fall, Andrew Young, in which he says Edwards has always known everything and orchestrated the cover-up (selling the book, of course, is pretty sleazy, too)

the fact that there likely isn't a soul left on earth who has seen the pictures of the baby who still believes that Edwards isn't the father.

The only question now, it seems, is whether Edwards will eventually also admit that he loves Hunter, which is clearly what she has been hanging around for all along. There's no other reason to endure the fury Elizabeth Edwards has wrought as the woman scorned.

If Edwards does eventually admit that, Hunter will have played the whole thing perfectly.